Bjerkreim

Bjerkreim is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Dalane. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vikeså. Other villages in the municipality include Bjerkreim and Øvrebygd.

Nature has been generous in giving Bjerkreim many idyllic places, making Bjerkreim a good place to live by living in a countryside environment, but still relatively close to a major city, Stavanger. Bjerkreim has one of the most important salmon rivers in Norway, Bjerkreimselva. The most important livelihoods are agriculture and small-scale industries.

The 651 km2 municipality is the 173rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bjerkreim is the 236th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,848. The municipality's population density is 4.9 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 2.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The parish of Birkrem was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal changes in Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On that date, the Nedre Maudal area of Bjerkreim (population: 40) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Gjesdal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Bjerkreim farm (Bjarkarheimr), since the first Bjerkreim Church was built there The first element is the genitive case of which means "birch". The last element is which means "homestead" or "farm". Before 1889, the name was written "Birkrem".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 11 July 1986. The official blazon is "Vert, a birch branch with six leaves and four catkins argent" (På grøn grunn ein opprett sølv bjørkekvist med sju blad og fire raklar). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a vertical branch from a birch tree which has six leaves and four catkins. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen since the name of the municipality is derived from the Norwegian word for birch, bjørk, thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by John Digernes. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Bjerkreim. It is part of the Dalane prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Government
Bjerkreim Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal. A notable local politician is Olaf Gjedrem, mayor from 1979 to 1993 and later a member of the national parliament.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bjerkreim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The executive committee of the council has 5 members, who also make up the authority's planning and economic committee. The mayor of Bjerkreim leads both the council and the executive committee. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Bjerkreim:


 * 1838–1839: Thønnis Tollefson Bjerkreim
 * 1840–1841: Rasmus Rasmusson Osland
 * 1842–1843: Omund Adsem
 * 1844–1845: Erik Erikson Espeland
 * 1846–1849: Erik A. Lauperak
 * 1850–1853: Sigbjørn Hytland
 * 1854–1855: Omund Adsem
 * 1856–1865: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
 * 1866–1869: Ole V. Sagland
 * 1870–1879: Christian Larsson Kløgetvedt
 * 1880–1881: Jonas K. Vigesaa
 * 1882–1893: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
 * 1894–1897: Tollef Asbjørnsen Gjedrem
 * 1898–1899: Tønnes Tollefsen Bjerkrheim
 * 1899–1901: Tollef Carlsen Laksesvela
 * 1902–1904: Sem Johan Jonassen Vaule
 * 1905–1919: Gitle A. Birkrem
 * 1920–1922: Peder Carlson Skjæveland
 * 1923–1925: Arne Gjedrem
 * 1926–1934: Karl Laksesvela
 * 1935–1940: Arne Gjedrem
 * 1945–1947: Arne Gjedrem
 * 1948–1955: Martin Veen
 * 1956–1963: Karl L. Skjæveland
 * 1964–1966: Martin Veen
 * 1966–1975: Tolleiv Gjedrem
 * 1976–1979: Lloyd Vaule
 * 1980–1993: Olaf Gjedrem (KrF)
 * 1994–1999: Gunnhild Vassbø
 * 1999–2003: Asbjørn Gjedrem
 * 2003–2007: Asbjørn Ramsli (Sp)
 * 2007–2015: Marthon Skårland (H)
 * 2015–2019: Torbjørn Ognedal (Sp)
 * 2019–2023: Kjetil Slettebø (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Tone Vaule (Ap)

Geography
Bjerkreim municipality lies at the northern end of the hilly, rugged Dalane district, just south of the very flat Jæren district. There are several large lakes in Bjerkreim including Austrumdalsvatnet, Byrkjelandsvatnet, Hofreistæ, and Ørsdalsvatnet.

Transportation
The main means of transportation to Bjerkreim is via the European route E39 highway which passes through the municipality from south to north. The municipality lies in the southwestern part of the country. The distance to the nearest airport, Stavanger airport in Sola, is approximately 40 minutes by car.

Notable people

 * Knud Spødervold (1791–1848 in Bjerkreim), a lay preacher and leader of the Strong Believers religious movement
 * Olaf Gjedrem (born 1948 in Bjerkreim), a politician and mayor of Bjerkreim (1979–1993)
 * Ragnar Bjerkreim (born 1958 in Bjerkreim), a composer of film scores